Technifex

©2012 Air'n Art Designs

Prototypical Devices and Mechanical Systems • Show and Set Design • 3D Visualization and CAD
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Last Updated January 21, 2012

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	Niagara Falls Visitor Center: "Niagara's Fury" Niagara Falls, Canada The temperature will drop 20 degrees. Water will bubble and spray while snow falls all around. Standing in the mist on a massive platform you will feel the full wrath of Mother Nature as the floor tilts and trembles beneath you. You’ll never look at the Falls the same way again! Niagara Parks has recreated the amazing sights and sounds of the Creation of Niagara Falls. Incredible images produced with technology previously used only in satellites and medicine will immerse you in a “4D” Universal Studios-style attraction. The experience starts with an 8 minute animated Pre-show, where charming woodland characters explain how the Ice Age formed Niagara Falls. Then, in a specially designed, 360 degree theatre, witness the Creation of the Falls in a 6-minute, multi-sensory extravaganza! Involvement: SAE Concept development, designer, CAD designed mechanisms, engineering and drafting, documentation, information systems management, graphic art, desktop publishing.

	Honda Motors: Trade Show Feature Trade show feature showcasing their new corporate jet. Employed full-six-axis hydraulic motion-base to simulate flight, and running lights. Involvement: SAE Concept development, designer, CAD designed mechanisms, engineering and drafting, documentation, information systems management, graphic art, desktop publishing.

	Masquerade Bar: Multimedia Tower Harrah's Hotel and Casino, New Orleans A 360° rear-projection tower (projection from inside the tower!), 40 feet tall. 20 feet in diameter at the top, 13 feet at the circular bar. This spectacular center-piece for the Masquerade Bar utilizes 20 high-end projectors mounted on a center structure surrounded by custom-fit acrylic glass panels for the rear-projection surface. Over the bar is a circular stage with fauxfire® around it's edge. Fauxfire® is a Technifex-original product, incorporating steam, air and high-intensity lighting to simulare a frighteningly realistic fire effect. Dancers on this circular stage appear to be dancing within 3-foot-tall flames. A truly breathtaking and eye-popping show. Built in California, all the structural elements had to be designed to be disassembled, shipped, and transported on freeways, through the casino lobby and gaming floor, then reassembled on-site. Since there was no room for cranes, the mammoth structure was carefully erected using a pair of heavy-duty forklifts working in unison. Air'n Art Designs was brought on-board from the incept to head the 3D structural and mechanical design, as well as the production effort and facility interface. Engineering assistance from Entertainment Engineering helped to make this Technifex project an inspired success. Left: Various glimpses of the tower with video projection and special effects lighting. The gorgeous bar can be seen at the base of the tower, with a graceful staircase leading to the overhead stage. *Click here to see a video on the making of the Harrah's Tower*

Dakota Dunes
Pylon Fire Bowls
Faux Fire creates a stunning illusion of real fire for this casino lobby feature. The Faux Fire effect is a Technifex, Inc. original concept and patented effect. Air'n Art Designs assisted Technifex to apply their technology into a practical application.

Air'n Art Designs created a functional, and maintainable mechanical design for this Lexington Scenery designed piece.
Easily serviceable, this dramatic scenery element ads a stunning atmosphere to the energetic casino environment.

Kerzner Design Group
Atlantis Hotel and Casino, Bermuda
Lazy river elements and special effects make this vacation destination water park unforgettable. Air'n Art Designs assisted Technifex, Inc. in mechanical systems design and facility interface.

	Las Vegas Hilton, "Borg Invasion" 4-D Theater Las Vegas, Nevada Technifex was commissioned to create this awesume 4-D theater, complete with 6-axis motion bases and custom sensory seats

	One of several motion-bases
	4-D theater seats

Meskwaki Casino
Kuhlman Design Group
Combining natural stone, fire, and water, this casino entrance show piece dramatizes a modernistic artistic vision of natural forces.

Air'n Art Designs was enlisted to assist Technifex, Inc. to create a functional mechanical design and maintainable facility interface and systems design.

All photos courtesy of Technifex, Inc.

Light, air, and steam help to create the illusion of fire

Blackpool Pleasure Beach: Valhalla

Blackpool, England

VALHALLA is a high speed, thrilling waterborne dark ride with unique features, heavily themed and incorporating a host of multi-sensory elements. Riders experience over 6 minutes of sheer excitement as they travel through the darkened interior of VALHALLA. Many of the specially created 'show action' effects were never before used on amusement park rides. VALHALLA incorporates fire, water, snow, thunder and lightening effects, with riders experiencing extremes of temperature.

Air'n Art was involved with the facility input and the design and production of the "Corridor of Fire (Fire effect pictured at left), and a parting waterfall.


	"TITANIC: The Experience" Fox Studios - Sydney, Australia Fox Studios Australia is home to the world’s only Titanic experience, a unique journey of more than 20 minutes in which the visitor becomes a film extra – and is part of one of the greatest productions of all time. A recreation of the final moments of James Cameron’s epic film, Titanic – The Experience takes the visitor "on set", where assistant directors supervise their subsequent journey through many scenes familiar to fans of the 1998 Academy Award-winning blockbuster. Air'n Art was responsible for facility input and vendor coordination and involved with the design and production of several show elements including a Breaching Wall Effect, an automated Cargo Hoist, several pyrotechnic elements, and a "Falling Dummy".


	Technifex Internal Project IAAPA Trade Show Convention Designed by Technifex, their booth won "Best Booth" at the 1999 IAAPA trade show. With the assistance of the Technifex team, Air'n Art Design took the preliminary concept and helped develop it into a feasible, build-able design. This modular booth is all aluminum construction and even has a second-story conference area with a gracefully spiraling staircase. Technifex served as producer for this show and oversaw the management and direction of over thirty vendors here in the United States and in Australia.


	Aqua Shot - Water Blaster Slide Lites - Water Ride Products Technifex Products; Product development, design, Advertising and promotional materials

	Faux Fire® A Technifex original product. Creates the illusion of real fire, yet is safe to touch. Used in many theatrical applications. This effect can also be used to give the illusion of extreme cold, just by changing the lighting.

	Fiber optic lighting for casinos, hotel lobbies, or theaters.
	Water Screens. Incorporates special lighting and can be projected upon. Technifex created a portable, rentable system.

	Mechanical effects for television and movies Shown here a mechanical shark head for the National Geographic special "Sharks"